Kins – New York’s New Female Voice In Hip Hop

Lakina Franklin, better known by her artist name KINS, is emerging from the streets of Buffalo, NY. Her urban swagger style, which many compare to Remy Ma or Eve, has gained the attention of such respected artists such as Murda Mook, Chief Keef, OTF/300, DMX, and others in today’s music industry. Just listen to her music and you’ll understand why. She embodies the epitome of strength with her music.

KINS’ current single, “Streetz,” released on the Firehouze Entertainment label, brings the grittiness of rap back to its primitive powerful perspective. With this debut release, which features Ruff Ryderz’s own Murda Mook, “Streetz” is sure to be the next best song of 2014-2015 and a heat-seeker on the radio charts.

“Streetz” is being serviced to tastemaker urban radio broadcasters in key markets across the United States and Canada, and will be impacting playlists at stations on November 18, 2014. A national press campaign has also been launched so keep your eyes on your favorite ‘zines and blogs to see what the peeps in the press have to say about KINS and her music.

You can keep up with updates and announcements by following KINS on her Facebook Page, reaching her on her Twitter, or by checking in with Firehouze Entertainment. Look for an upcoming album from KINS and Firehouze Entertainment to drop on January 7, 2015.

RB: Can you give me a brief history on you? How did you get into the music industry, and what makes you different?Kins: Well it’s always been a part of me. Since the age of six or seven, I’ve been rapping and it’s always been a part of me. People expected this from me, and said “it’s about time!” So it’s just something that I knew I had to do, and I’m all about it. It’s always been a love of mine. I’ve always been rapping round the corner, this is just me haha! They expected this from me for so long, so I had to do it! I just like life push it back for a while, but when you love something it will always go to the forefront.

Tell me about your first release with Murda Mook.It was actually a single on my album, it’s mixed emotions. It’s a lot of sides of me. I have a lot of mood swings haha. At first I got the beat, and when I heard it, I was all in. My manager is actually Ruff Ryders affiliated, and he knows Murda Mook. He heard me and he knew I was serious, so he wanted to get on board.

I see you influence a lot of other artists, what relations do you have with other popular artists today?
I have a lot of songs with a lot of big artist, but I’m not sure how the releases are going to work, there are so many issues as far as legal and all that, it’s really tough. There are always management issues. The artists makes the magic, and we made it all nice, but whether it’s going to be released or not is a whole other story.

As far as your music, what makes you different from other female MC’s?Coming into this, you have to be unique. You have to feel like you are the best thing walking. You have to feel like that. At the end of the day, I know I am. I have stories to tell. I’m not just getting on the mic and talking about random stuff. People need someone to look up to mentally, not just “I want to look like her.” You’ve got to help people be better. That’s what I believe.

What can we expect to see next? I know you are already on the radio, but do we have a follow up album?Oh yeah! We definitely are going to release an album. It got pushed back a bit, but it will definitely coming with it. It’s going to be called “Mood Swings” haha.

Do you have a tour or anything coming?It’s kind of sporadic, I’m going wherever my manager tells me to go. Right now it’s just smaller shows, but we definitely have stuff in the works. I wish I was on tour but not quite yet haha.

Tell me about your personal life, what do you do outside of music on your free time?It’s like night and day, as far as what I do on rap and real life. You’ve got to have an one and off switch. I have a personal life and a business life. I have two beautiful kids, one is six and the other is twelve. My son thinks he’s my father haha.

Last thing I want to know about is Firehouse Entertainment? Tell us about your label and team.It’s a building in progress. There are so many of us, and we have so much to bring. We have teams within teams. It’s definitely going to be something big. We expect great things and nothing less. We have graphic designers, and people who make the music etc. There is so much in the works.